National consultations on Media Viability (Jan.- Feb. '23)

A series of national consultations on media viability in Tunisia, Lebanon, and Namibia

GFMD IMPACT is joining forces with UNESCO to help build momentum and consensus on policy recommendations to promote media viability in Lebanon, Tunisia and Namibia through a series of roundtable meetings in January 2023.

Aims of the meetings:

Identify key problems faced by the national media sector and draft national policy recommendations with which to address them – in sum, explore ways to build an environment in which journalists and independent media organisations can thrive over the long term.

Draft policy recommendations and identify national mechanisms to address viability.

Assess the relevance of recommendations in the international policy briefs produced by UNESCO and other partners at national level (see literature reviews below)

Partners and stakeholders

GFMD IMPACT, UNESCO and local partners are inviting local stakeholders, donors, representatives of national Governments/parliaments, and identified national policy drivers.

The stakeholders are expected to include parliamentarians, representatives of government (including economics-related ministries), communications regulators, representives of the media and advertising industries, and academia.

READ THE FULL SUMMARY HERE:

Roundtables / National consultations

Details on the roundtables co-organised by GFMD and UNESCO in partnership with our local partners in Lebanon, Tunisia, and Namibia:

Literature Review

The national consultations draw on the following resources on media viability.

For the latest research and data on media viability, please consult UNESCO's web page here.

Literature on Media Viability

World Trends Data Bank (UNESCO) : an open resource to understand key trends in media development and freedom of expression.

The UNESCO Policy Brief: "Journalism is a Public Good: World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Viability" (2022)

A UNESCO Report by Larry Kilman on media viability (2022), with examples from Lebanon, Namibia, and Tunisia

"National Consultations on solutions to promote media viability while preserving media independence" (a report on UNESCO-commissioneed consultations with Free Press Unlimited, January 2022)

"Finding the funds for journalism to thrive: policy options to support media viability" (UNESCO,

Media Viability Indicators Assessment: Lebanon (Deutsche-Welle Akademie, 7 July 2021)

Report: "Review of the Funding Landscape for Media Development Actors in Lebanon" (GFMD, Skeyes entre and IMS, 15 February 2022)

Report: "Sustainability and journalism support in Lebanon" (GFMD, 16 March 2021)

Coordinating Media Assistance and Journalism Support Efforts report (GFMD, SKeyes Centre, and IMS). Final version published in November 2022.

Research Study: "Media and Information Landscape assessment in Lebanon" (Maharat Foundation, October 2021)

Public Funding for Private Media in the Mena Region by Sarah Zaarour (PRIMED, April 2022)

Namibia's Media: Facing the Digital Challenge, by Dietrich Remmert (the Institute for Public Policy Research, Namibia Media Trust, and the Hanns Sidel Foundation, January 2019)

Health Crises and Media Discourses in Sub-Saharan Africa, editors Carol Azungi Dralega, Angella Napakol (24 May 2022)

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